Viral TikTok Spritz Cookies (Crisp Buttery Christmas Butter Cookies)

Viral TikTok Spritz Cookies (Crisp Buttery Christmas Butter Cookies)

Every December, one cookie quietly takes over the internet: the spritz cookie. These delicate, buttery little shapes come out of a cookie press looking like they took hours of piping skill, when in truth one batch of dough turns into sixty perfect cookies in about half an hour. This year they are all over TikTok again, and once you taste how crisp, melting and almond-scented they are, you will understand why they never really go out of fashion.

Spritz cookies are the fastest way to fill a holiday cookie tin. The dough is a simple butter cookie dough, pressed through different discs into stars, trees, wreaths and flowers, then baked for just eight to ten minutes until the edges turn the palest gold. They keep beautifully for two weeks in a tin, they travel well in gift boxes, and they look stunning next to richer cookies like gingerbread and fudge. If you are building a Christmas cookie platter, these are the pretty ones that make the whole tray look professional.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

One batch makes about sixty cookies, so a single afternoon of baking covers gifts, parties and the cookie jar. The dough comes together in one bowl with no chilling required, and the cookie press does all the decorative work for you. The cookies are crisp at the edges, tender in the middle and rich with butter and almond, and they are endlessly adaptable: swap the extract, change the sprinkles, dip half of each cookie in chocolate, or sandwich two together with jam. They are also wonderfully kid-friendly, since little hands love choosing the shapes and adding the sprinkles.

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks / 227 g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 2/3 cup (130 g) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon almond extract (or vanilla extract, if you prefer)
• 2 1/4 cups (270 g) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• Colored sprinkles, sanding sugar or nonpareils, for decorating
• Optional: 100 g melted dark or white chocolate, for dipping

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Do not grease the sheets: the dough needs to grip the pan so the pressed shapes hold.
2. Beat the softened butter and sugar in a large bowl on medium-high speed for 3 to 4 minutes, until pale, fluffy and almost white. Scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice.
3. Beat in the egg and the almond extract until fully combined, about 30 seconds.
4. Add the flour and salt all at once. Mix on low speed just until no dry streaks remain. Do not overmix, or the cookies will turn tough instead of melting.
5. Load the dough into a cookie press fitted with the disc of your choice. Press the cookies directly onto the ungreased, parchment-lined sheets, spacing them about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart. The press works best when the dough is at room temperature, so work steadily and do not chill the dough.
6. Decorate the tops with sprinkles or sanding sugar before baking, pressing them very lightly so they stick.
7. Bake one sheet at a time for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges just begin to turn golden. The tops should stay pale. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
8. If you like, dip half of each cooled cookie into melted chocolate and set it on parchment until the chocolate firms up, about 20 minutes at room temperature.

Tips for Perfect Spritz Cookies

Room-temperature butter is the whole secret: too cold and the press will jam, too soft and the shapes will slump. Your baking sheets must be cool and ungreased, because the dough has to cling to the pan as the press lifts away. If a shape does not stick, wipe the sheet clean of any butter residue and try again. Work with one disc shape at a time, and if the dough starts to feel stiff in the press, knead it briefly in your hands to warm it up. For the prettiest tins, press a mix of stars, trees and wreaths from the same batch and finish each shape with a different sprinkle color.

Make-Ahead & Storage

Spritz cookies keep for 10 to 14 days in an airtight tin at room temperature, layered between sheets of parchment paper. The unbaked dough can be wrapped tightly and refrigerated for up to 3 days; bring it back to room temperature before pressing. Baked cookies also freeze well for up to 2 months in a sealed container, though it is best to freeze them before adding any chocolate dip. They thaw in about 15 minutes on the counter and taste just as crisp as the day they were baked.

Nutrition (Estimated)

Per cookie (1 of 60, without chocolate dip): about 55 calories, 3 g fat, 7 g carbohydrates, 1 g protein and 4 g sugar. These are estimates only and will vary with the exact brands and decorations you use.